Whooves: Mare of the Moon
by Doctor Specter
Summary: Episode 3: In this lost adventure, the Doctor and Luna have some fun setting up the events of the pilot of Friendship is Magic! Will the Mane Six prove themselves worthy of their positions as the wielders of the Elements of Harmony? Find out here!
1. Chapter 1

**Mare of the Moon**

"So, about that revenge thing," the Doctor said, trailing off with a sense of how ridiculous he sounded, hoping that Luna wouldn't overdo it.

"Responding to a punishment we shouldn't have received with a revenge scheme we both know will be ineffective is folly! We shall not engage in this jester's sport!" Luna exclaimed, the Royal Canterlot Speaking Voice in full swing. It would appear to the Doctor later that, perhaps, her time on the moon gave her some time to learn to moderate her vocal volume. While his conscience wouldn't dare question his decision to take Luna to skip her imprisonment, his ears were pleading to send her back. He couldn't hear them pleading, of course; even if he suffered from audio hallucinations, he still wouldn't be able to hear them over Luna's disturbingly powerful voice.

"But we have to make sure that the new ponies that wield the Elements of Harmony are fit for the job. It could be fun…" the Doctor said, his tone of voice all over the place, his ears ringing. He feared her overdoing the revenge plot significantly now. He wondered if this past Luna was even capable of _not_ overdoing _anything_.

Ringing. Somewhere in his mind, the Doctor thought of ringing.

"What is that terrible sound?" Luna asked, her voice booming. The doors to the TARDIS shook from the noise.

The Future Luna was in a room deep in the TARDIS, and was trying very hard to get some sleep. Needless to say, it didn't work at all. She wished that she had royal power over her past self, but knew that the Doctor's warning existed for a reason. Still…She might have fared better had she brought some ear plugs.

_Industrial strength ear plugs_, Luna thought.

"That is the sound of my ears being annihilated by vocal tradition, Luna!" the Doctor screamed. He wasn't sure why after.

"No, not that, you silly colt! I'm referring to the sound of bells!"

The Doctor grabbed some ear plugs.

"I don't hear them."

"That's because you've placed things in your ears!"

Luna was almost at a volume the Doctor was comfortable with now. Almost.

"Bells, huh?..."

"Yes, Physician, bells!"

"I'm the _Doctor_."

"Somewhere located in thine TARDIS, _Doctor,_ is a set of bells. And thine bells are ringing," Luna said.

"Oh. In that case…It must be my phone," the Doctor said, thankful that Luna had gained some reign over the volume of her voice.

The Doctor galloped over to his phone. On the way, he picked up a few objects that had fallen on the floor from Luna's audio assault.

He answered the phone.

"Hello, Doctor," a mischievous voice said. It sounded ancient, thousands of years old, and with a strange, almost hypnotic, charm.

"Dream Lord…" the Doctor said with anger in his voice. This was the fifth call he'd gotten since they took flight.

"I knew you could do it!" the voice said.

_Dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn_

"He hung up on me! I didn't even know the phone rang until a little while ago and now I find out that it makes a noise when I get hung up on! This is just _marvelous!_" the Doctor yelled with surprise.

"'Hung up?'" Past Luna asked.

"Ceased communication," the Doctor said.

"Are we arriving in Ponyville soon? We are getting bored on this ship of yours!"

"We're here now."

The Doctor breathed his first breath of fresh air in days. It was refreshing. Old leaves crunched beneath his feet; winter was rapidly approaching. It was the first steps from the TARDIS that were the best, he thought.

"Okay, so, tonight is the Summer Sun Celebration. I figure that since you are involved with the moon and night this is the perfect time to begin your revenge. Also, history more or less says it happens today, in," the Doctor said as he checked his watch, "2 hours."

"We still don't understand why this revenge scheme is necessary, Physician."

"It's the Doctor! Doctor!"

"My apologies, Doctor."

"Thank you. The reason for this, Princess Luna, is that we must make sure that the Elements of Harmony will be wielded by worthy ponies. The only way to ensure this is by testing them, and the easiest way to do that is to have you have your revenge on Celestia, which forces her hand on sending the little ponies to collect the Elements, which in turn ends your revenge, puts you on Celestia's good side, and keeps all the set points in time from changing. The way I see it," the Doctor said, a smile on his face, "Everypony wins."

"But what do you get from this?"

"I told you this earlier, Luna; I'm in this for some fun. Helping out a friend is also a pretty good factor. Maybe a bit of passive aggressiveness towards Celestia for breaking into my TARDIS, too, and the Elements of Harmony would be devastating if they fell into unworthy hooves. But the most important reason that I am helping you out, my little Princess, is that it would be a good thing to do."

"We're not little, are we?" Past Luna asked with insecurity in her voice.

"No. Just a bit younger than your big sister, that's all. Now, let's wreak a party!"

The Doctor led Luna towards where the Summer Sun Celebration was being held, running excitedly, knowing that this adventure would be one for the ages. At the very least, it would be interesting.

"Wait, no, I've forgotten something. Luna, hide somewhere. When you hear the whooshing sound, come out. I'll be back impossibly soon," the Doctor said, rushing back to the TARDIS. He had an order to make, an order that had to be placed years in the future, to avoid suspicion.

"Doctor, why are you leaving us?"

"I need to get you a Nightmare Moon costume! You'll need it for the Summer Sun Celebration!"

"Why do you have to go in the box, Doctor?"

"There's only one pony who can make something convincing enough to pull this off! And she is one of the six!" the Doctor yelled back to Luna. He had to hurry; otherwise he might have forgotten where he put his money. He didn't have enough gems for a trade.

He dashed into the TARDIS.

"Old coat, it's the old coat, it's the old coat, it's the old coat, it's the…" he repeated to himself, hoping to jam it into his memory for just a moment longer, just the few precious seconds he'd need to send his wonderful blue box on its course.

5 years. 45 feet to the left, 6 inches down, tilt of 93 degrees, moderate speed fade, lights flashing, chameleon circuits still broken, filters still active, instant translator unneeded, crash detectors on, brakes still on. It only took a few moments for the Doctor to program all of these settings into the TARDIS's controls, still chanting about the old coat, until he pulled the switch, the big switch, the switch that sent his madpony's box off to another time and another space.

_Whooooooooosh_

He was off.

He ran over to get his old coat. It was inside of the chest by the double doors, which he was incapable of opening in the proper direction. He opened the chest, snickered to himself about how great it was to have so many things that were bigger on the inside, and grabbed his old coat out of a pile of clothing items. On his way to the current home of his monetary worth, he displaced or tossed aside a few scarves of varying length, a few old sonic screwdrivers, an old diary, his severed hoof (inside of a preservation jar), a few hats (including a fedora, and the ever-cool fez and Stetson), and his time travel trousers.

He carefully picked up and unfolded his old coat, which was still a bit precious to him. The problem with regenerating is that one's whole self changes, the worst part of which was that the Doctor no longer had wings to fill the holes in the top of his coat, rendering it (at least temporarily) useless to him. Still, it was rather nice. He reached into the pocket where his old sonic had resided, and pulled out a wallet.

Not too many coins, but enough to pay the clothes-maker.

There was a loud _thud_, and a big **thump **as the TARDIS landed. A few things shook, and the Doctor rolled onto his back from the impact. He got up off of the ground, quickly brushed himself off, stored his old coat, and walked out of the TARDIS.

"I think I've done it again!" the Doctor said to himself as he walked into Rarity's workshop, hoping that she had enough materials to make Luna a suitably convincing Nightmare Moon costume.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I simply _can't_ make something _that _complicated in _that_ short of time!" Rarity yelled to the heavens in her trademark melodrama.

"How long would it take you, do you think?" the Doctor asked, a small smirk growing across his face. Time travel defeats time limits in the battle against stagnation, he would always say.

"Well….If you simply must have the helmet for the costume, it could take as long as a week!"

"Tell you what, Rarity: take your time, maybe go on a trip to Canterlot. As a matter of fact, make that two weeks!" the Doctor said. _I know I've done it again,_ he thought.

"But that's a whole 4 days after Nightmare Night! What do you want this costume for?"

"It's a special surprise. I'm sure you've heard about it."

"You act like it's already happened, Mr…Mr….What was your name again?"

"Doctor."

"Mr. Doctor."

"Just the Doctor will do, thank you, or Doctor Whooves, if you truly must extend my name."

Rarity gave the Doctor a confused look. Something in her mind, beneath the thoughts of planning for her next line of clothes, and where she might find more gems for said next line, told her that this pony looked familiar. She remembered that she had to act her very best around costumers, though, and quickly put on her best smile.

"You talk about…whatever you need this costume for…as though it's already happened, Doctor Whooves, sir."

"That's because it has for you."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. It'll all make sense soon enough. For me, anyway… So, I'll be back in 2 weeks. And since I've noticed a shortage in your shop," the Doctor said, remembering that he would need to set a reminder in the TARDIS that would activate upon his next regeneration about this, "I'll bring you some gems as well as the payment for your trouble."

Rarity was amazed. Either this pony was very rich, very stupid, or very much both. Still, she was the spirit of Generosity, and she could not take gifts like these.

"Oh, no, that's fine; really, I must insist that you don't do _that_. Usually I don't even take payments…."

"My treat, Miss Rarity, because I fear that I'm about to put you through a bit of trouble, and this is my way of saying, 'Sorry.'"

"How do you mean?"

The Doctor looked into Rarity's eyes, and for a brief second, he wanted to tell her everything. But he knew that he couldn't. The last time he did that, he almost had to leave Equestria forever.

"Just try to make the costume as realistic as when you saw Nightmare Moon, okay? Don't want to be causing any problems with time…"

Rarity had the sudden sensation that there was more here than meets the eye. Regardless, she had a job to finish.

The Doctor gave Rarity a smile, waved goodbye, and left her shop.

He decided that this wasn't enough of a test for her. She would need more proof than this that she was suitable to wield the Element of Generosity. Anypony can reject a gift; it takes a truly pure soul to give one with the expectation of nothing in return.

He went back into the TARDIS, walked up to the center console, and typed a message that would be displayed on all of the TARDIS monitors when he regenerated again. The message said the following:

"Dear 12,

In the event that you have some free time, me, I must request that you acquire a bucket or two of gems for Miss Rarity, and drop them off in front of her shop five years and two weeks after the date that Nightmare Moon returned. Try not to let me see you.

Best Wishes,

-11"

He added another 14 days to the date he had set in the TARDIS.

He pulled the lever.

He gave his future self a good 5 minutes or so.

He opened the door.

"Thanks me! I owe you one!"

He picked up the bucket of gems in his mouth, and had the coins in his pocket. Using his head, he knocked on Rarity's door.

"One moment, please!"

The Doctor waited for a few minutes. He ground his hooves into the ground a bit out of boredom, adjusted the bucket in his mouth, and eventually knocked again when his teeth began to hurt.

A bright, gleaming light radiated from the front door. In a silhouette of fabulousness and gleaming gems was Rarity, an inspired smile on her face, and a confident look in her eyes. The Doctor knew that look well; that look was the look of somepony currently engaged in the thing that they love to do most. There were enough mirrors in the TARDIS to tell him that.

"Oh, Doctor! I apologize for the wait. I was adjusting the size on a few designs I've been working on. Please, come in. The Nightmare Moon costume is ready."

"If I may say so myself, the dress is wonderful. You are quite the artist," the Doctor said as he placed the bucket on the ground, and took a few steps into Rarity's shop.

Rarity had a look on her face somewhere between embarrassment and confusion, as though she didn't think that her work was anything special. _Clearly, this pony has never read reviews for her work on the Ponynet,_ the Doctor thought. Rarity realized that she had a customer in the room, and so put on an overconfident look. She thought back to the dresses she had made for her friends, all of those years ago, and remembered what was, in her mind, truly her greatest work.

She went into a back room, and with a combination of magic and old fashioned pushing, wheeled out Nightmare Moon's outfit. The Doctor wasn't sure if she had needed to learn blacksmithing in order to make it, but he was certain that the gems was enough to pay her back for whatever training might have been necessary.

"You know, Doctor, I wrote down what time you set your order in my shop when you left. It's in my logs," Rarity said, as she used unicorn magic to grab a clipboard 15 feet away. After flipping through a few pages, she got to the sheet for 2 weeks prior. She placed the clipboard in front of the Doctor as she continued, "You arrived here within 20 seconds of when you left. Now, either you keep a very good watch on you, or there's something else going on."

"Are you second guessing my legitimacy?" the Doctor asked.

"I am merely making sure that nothing fishy is going on," Rarity said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Okay, you've got me: I'm a time travelling Time Pony that's nine hundred years old. This is my eleventh incarnation, and those gems by your door, they were dropped off by my twelfth. That outfit you made isn't a recreation, either, because I'm giving it to Luna so that she can impersonate Nightmare Moon after I broke her out of her lunar prison. Also, I can open any door that isn't made of wood. Any more questions, Rarity? Oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm from outer space."

Rarity stared blankly at the Doctor.

"Sorry. I'm in a bit of a hurry. See you later!" the Doctor shouted at the still-frozen Rarity, grabbing Nightmare Moon's clothes on his way out of the door.

Rarity couldn't tell if this was another of Pinkie Pie's practical jokes or what.

As a matter of fact, she was pretty sure that she saw this pony with Pinkie Pie before…

The Doctor added Rarity to a mental list of potential future companions. There were so few worthy candidates, and now there's one with a time limit. He checked his watch, and once he was in the TARDIS, opened another document, and quickly wrote down some details. He gave Rarity one hour from that exact moment until she told somepony.

The Doctor suspected that an hour for him is a lifetime for everypony else. In fact, he had nine hundred, give or take, years of experience to prove it.

5 years and 15 days earlier, Rarity was preparing decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration. She was not aware of Time Ponies, the Doctor, or even Nightmare Moon. The only thing she had on her mind was making sure that this event would look as incredible as she could make it, and she'd read her reviews on the Ponynet; she could make this event look quite incredible according to it.

Not too far away, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail was clearing the clouds in ten seconds flat.

Not too far away, a shy pegasus was teaching some birds to sing for the Summer Sun Celebration. With her as their tutor, they'd be set to sing for anypony in the world.

Not too far away, an orange earth pony was bucking some apples to prepare for the best meal anypony at that festival would ever eat.

Not too far away, a pink earth pony was doing what she did best: party hard. Soon enough, she'd be helping quite a few more ponies do the same thing.

Visiting all of these ponies was a purple unicorn who was a student of Princess Celestia. Some said she was the best student of the Princess. Among them was the Princess herself. That purple unicorn was great at magic, sure, but she needed to learn quite a few lessons about friendship.

In the middle of all of this were the Doctor and Luna, one day later, doing their best to make sure that she learned those lessons, for the sake of Equestria.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS. The sun was about to rise. He checked his watch. 30 minutes.

"LUNA!" the Doctor said in his best impression of the Royal Canterlot Speaking Voice.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Put this on. We've only got a few minutes left to kidnap your sister."

"I don't like the way that sounds."

"Neither do I, but that's what the history books say."

Luna emerged from the TARDIS 3 minutes later. She and the Doctor walked in through the back door of the building that the party was held in. Things were about to get serious.

"Okay, so, we'll grab your sister, quickly explain the situation, then you make a dramatic entrance, tell everypony there that you plan on bringing unending night to Equestria, head to Everfree Forest, and there we'll put together the rest of the plan. Once we explain everything to Celestia, I'm going to head to the TARDIS to set up something with my twelfth incarnation, while also coming up with a way to avoid a paradox. You ready?"

"As ready as I can get, Doctor," Luna said, thoroughly confused by the situation.

"Good. That's about as ready as anypony can be. Let's do this!"

They ran into the room where Celestia was getting ready for her grand entrance when things got just a tiny bit more complicated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Hello, Doctor. I've been expecting you. Please, take a seat," Celestia said, facing a mirror, preparing to raise the sun.

"Celestia, you knew we were coming?"

"Of course I knew you were coming. Why do you think I sent you to the moon to meet Luna?"

"To get some…pictures?"

"I'm surprised you ever believed that, Doctor. The only reason I ever sent you two to the moon was to convince you to take Luna out of her thousand years on the moon."

"But why?"

"If I told you I felt guilty, you probably wouldn't believe me."

"Obviously."

Celestia stood up, noticing that Luna hadn't entered the room yet. She assumed that the Doctor had asked her to wait outside.

"It has recently come to my attention that Luna was framed. Realizing my mistake, I planned to send you both to the moon, where the 'ponies' that framed Luna would be located. I hoped that you would piece together the story, Doctor, and use your box to take Luna to her future."

"Why wouldn't you just have me go there directly?"

"Because my protective magic over the moon would have prevented you from going there, unless you were already there and used time travel, Doctor."

"How did you hear about all of this?"

"I can't tell you that, Doctor."

"I see how this is. I just do all the dirty work, and you get to be the glimmering, alicorn princess of the universe, with the aurora borealis mane and the power over the raising of the sun and moon. Just wait until you see what's in store, Celestia, and you'll regret having ever used me. "

"No, I don't mean it that way. I mean that if I told you how I know all of this, then there would be some 'very unpleasant repercussions from the Time Vortex,' to quote who told me this information."

"So you mean to say…"

"Interpret that however you like, Doctor. All that I can tell you right now is that we're running out of time, and that Luna had better be ready to take over Equestria, because I haven't had a day, or night, off in a thousand years," Celestia said, with a mischievous look on her face.

The Doctor gave Celestia an amazed look. He could hardly believe any of what he'd heard, but he knew that what Celestia just said was right.

"Do you have a place to hide picked out already?"

"I was thinking I could hide in the castle, so that the effects of Nightmare Moon's defeat could be seen immediately."

"What if the six aren't worthy?"

"I assure you, Doctor, they are worthy. You're about to be out of a job."

"Everypony needs some help, even if they have the Elements on their side."

"Even if they have a TARDIS, Doctor?"

"From time to time, yes."

"In that case, I guarantee you that you're about to get some."

The Doctor considered that for a moment. _You know, I haven't had a break in about a thousand years, either, _he thought.

"Alright, then, let's get this over with. Luna, it's safe to come in, now!"

Luna walked into the room slowly, her head down, her wings flapping nervously. She had expected a loud lecture about how she shouldn't have accepted the Doctor's offer, or about how she couldn't have learned her lesson with only a few days on the moon. She hadn't expected, however, Celestia giving her a hug for the ages.

"I'm so sorry, Luna. I should've known not to have sent you away," Celestia said with tears in her eyes. Even if Luna had gotten around her imprisonment, Celestia still had to spend a thousand years alone. A thousand years of regret, alone, with only her guards to comfort her. She didn't even have Dis…No, he was not a friend. Not anymore.

"Hate to break up the happy family reunion, but…We only have 3 minutes until it's time for Luna to shine."

"I'll be there, Doctor. You head down to the party…to keep suspicion…down…" Luna said, trying to hide that she was also crying. Her time alone on the moon from the alternate timeline was starting to come back. _So…alone…_ she thought. _So very alone._

Very real anger was starting to flow through her. She kept it at bay, but knew that she could use it to her advantage.

She was never the best actress, after all, and this would help her to use her voice to even greater potential than before.

The Doctor suddenly felt the need to put his ear plugs back in. Or, even better, get industrial strength ear plugs.

He looked at his watch. He didn't have enough time. It was happening, right n…

"Wait, hold on, what about the stars aiding in her escape? Oh, darn, there's **always** something!" the Doctor yelled as he dashed to the TARDIS. This was going to be tough. He was going to have to travel back and forth around the moon to organize what appeared to be 4 stars approaching the satellite breaking Luna off of the moon. It was going to be very tough.

Elsewhere, destiny was becoming the present, as Luna became Nightmare Moon.

Everypony was wondering where Celestia was. Rarity had run back to Celestia's room, and found nothing. Chaos was breaking out all over the party, when Luna made her entrance.

"Oh, my beloved subjects, it's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces," she said, antagonism and hatred in her voice. She remembered the last time she did this, which would have been right then, in another lifetime…

"What did you do with our Princess?" a cyan colored pegasus screamed.

An orange earth pony snatched the pegasus's tale in her mouth, and said, "Whoa there, Nelly..."

Luna laughed, and in the voice of Nightmare Moon, asked, "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"

An excited pink pony, the mistress of parties some called her, said, "Ooh, ooh, more guessing games! Um, Pokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black-, " before she was cut off by the orange earth pony placing a cupcake in her mouth.

Luna looked across the crowd, remembering more and more of what this moment would have been like had the Doctor not break her out of her lunar prison.

"Does my crown no longer count now that I've been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?" she asked in a taunting voice.

A purple unicorn stepped out from the crowd.

"I did. And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!" she shouted, which prompted the other ponies in the audience to gasp in a mixture of surprise and fear.

"Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here," Luna said, preparing her magic to counteract her sister's, in case she decided against their plans. Regardless, the sun did have some autonomy, which she would have to work against. There was also the chance of the unicorns banding together to raise the sun, like they had before Celestia and Luna handled the celestial duties of the sky.

"You're here to... to..." the purple unicorn said, swallowing with nervousness and fear, unable to finish the statement.

Luna did the greatest evil laugh she could manage, and said, "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last **forever**!" Lightning struck toward the end, which Luna found very helpful in setting the mood she wanted. Thus far, everything had gone perfectly. As long as the Doctor told her what to do next, everything would probably continue to go perfectly, as well.

The Doctor wiped some sweat off of his face. After a lot of calculating very precise data, and putting that data into the TARDIS, he was overworked.

He decided that instead of all of this time travelling craziness, he would, instead, research the six ponies right then, to save time, and to give him a little bit of a break.

And research he did. He found out the ponies' names, and figured out which Element belonged to them. From there, he came up with the perfect (more or less) tests for them.

The first one he researched was Applejack. She was an orange earth pony, and she worked on an apple farm. She worked hard, had a fondness for hats, and her Element was Honesty. The best way to test her would be to put another pony in a (controlled) dangerous situation, but have the two pegasi be prepared to save said other pony. To pass this test, she would have to convince the other pony that they would be fine. If she could not do so, she would fail.

The next pony he researched was Fluttershy. She was a yellow pegasus, and she took care of animals. She was very good with the animals she took care of, was **very** shy, and her Element was Kindness. The best test for her would be to put a large animal in pain, in such a way that it attacked, or warranted an attack from, the group of ponies, and have her not only find, but remove the source of pain, causing the animal to be harmless. If she could not remove the source of pain, or if she attacked the animal, she would fail.

The third was Pinkie Pie. She was a pink (so very pink) earth pony, and she was the go-to pony in Ponyville if anypony needed a party. She was very silly, moved only by jumping, and her Element was Laughter. Her test would be to make the trees in a particularly dense area of the Everfree Forest look frightening. If she laughed at the trees, the scariness of them would be gotten rid of. If she was frightened by the trees, she would fail.

The Doctor would come up with the other three tests after the first three were finished, because he wanted to get into the action as quickly as possible. He also needed to get back into the habit of thinking fast and being in the heat of the moment, because he felt that he would need both of those things soon.

And that feeling was right.

But for now, he went back to Luna and put his plans together to present to her. He was shivering with excitement.

_This night is going to be criminally fun_, he thought.

And that thought was right.


End file.
